1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure generally relates to the field of ice-making machines. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to ice-making machines that use articulated water curtains in the ice-making process.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Some currently available ice-making machines have a substantially vertical ice-forming mold or evaporator for freezing waffles, slabs, sheets or cubes of ice (hereinafter “ice-forms”). A water distributor sends water over a front surface or grating of the mold or evaporator, and pumps circulate water continually through the distributor. A refrigeration circuit operates during the ice-making step so that ice is formed on the plate or grating of the evaporator. A hinged water curtain can have a bottom edge for directing the cascading water into a sump.
FIG. 1 discloses a conventional ice-making machine 10 comprising a one-piece water curtain 12 that is hung on a pair of horizontally disposed pivot pins or pivot points 14 (one shown) adjacent the top of a water distributor 16. Water curtain 12 has externally protruding strengthening ribs 18 and has a bottom edge portion 20 that hangs free over a water sump 22. FIG. 1 shows ice machine 10 in a closed position during an ice freezing or manufacturing cycle.
FIG. 2 shows ice-making machine 10 of FIG. 1 during a harvest cycle, when ice-forms drop out or off of evaporator 24, and hit and push the inside surface of curtain 12 away from evaporator 24. This allows the ice to fall along the inside surface of curtain 12, hit the bottom edge portion 20 of curtain 12 and pass into ice chute 26.
One problem with these conventional machines is that they employ a single-piece water curtain 12 that hangs from a single pair of aligned pivot points 14 or pivot pins mounted along a horizontal axis near or adjacent the top of an evaporator. Given this design, the weight of the conventional single-piece curtain is excessive and requires excessive energy for the machine or operator to open the curtain.
In addition, during a harvest cycle in conventional machines, the harvested ice-form is undesirably more likely to break if and when it hits a single-piece curtain, due to that single-piece's greater mass. The bottom edge 20 of the conventional single-piece curtain 12 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is not pivotable.
Another problem with conventional ice-making machines is that they do not sense and help resolve the complications arising from a controller in the machine being unable to distinguish between a condition where the bin for collecting the ice-forms is actually full, and a false full bin condition.
The present disclosure addresses these disadvantages.